Greetings from Helsinki, where your ESPGHAN podcast team has taken the opportunity to buttonhole as many learned, skilled, and experienced paediatric gastroenterologists and hepatologists as possible for interviews!

This note accompanies a conversation recorded there with Dr. Roberto Canani, an expert in paediatric food allergy. In this podcast, however, he steps away from what might be considered the principal theme of his expertise—namely, immunologic dysregulation at the enteric mucosa and beyond.

Instead, he addresses three key questions:

1. What are ultraprocessed foods?

2. What evidence indicates that such foods facilitate the occurrence of paediatric gastrointestinal disorders?

3. What are the mechanisms of action by which such foods might contribute to paediatric gastrointestinal disease?

He refers to three relevant articles that help frame and answer these questions:

• Srour B et al. Ultra-processed foods and human health: From epidemiological evidence to mechanistic insights. Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2022 Dec; 7(12):1128–1140. doi: 10.1016/S2468-1253(22)00169-8. Epub 2022 Aug 8. PMID: 35952706

• Lane MM et al. Ultra-processed food exposure and adverse health outcomes: Umbrella review of epidemiological meta-analyses. BMJ. 2024 Feb 28; 384:e077310. doi: 10.1136/bmj-2023-077310. PMID: 38418082; PMCID: PMC10899807

• Canani RB et al. Ultra-processed foods, allergy outcomes and underlying mechanisms in children: An EAACI task force report. Pediatr Allergy Immunol. 2024 Sep; 35(9):e14231. doi: 10.1111/pai.14231. PMID: 39254357

Concern is growing about the effects of ultraprocessed foods on us all. Today, Dr. Canani helps us understand what is currently known and how to integrate that knowledge into clinical care.